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CCEMC's Stand On Natural Gas Drilling and Piping The CCEMC's stand on the natural gas drilling and piping is relatively simple: We expect thorough and responsible policing and inspection by the NYSDEC that these operations strictly follow the DEC's guidelines and regulations and we also demand that violations, breeches or accidents that endanger or damage the environment or negatively affect the public welfare be dealt with appropriately heavy fines. Who was Telling The Truth? New York Regional Interconnect (NYRI) says its proposed 400,000 volt $1.6M power line project through the heart of the state, which would slice Chenango County in half, would prevent future blackouts while lowering energy bills for downstate customers. However, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) says it isn't needed, citing there are already more than a sufficient number of planned projects and market-based solutions – in which investors are reimbursed by the free market, and not government subsidies – to “meet or exceed” NY’s electricity needs through 2016 without the NYRI’s line. NYRI admitted its proposed line, once operational, would raise upstate utility rates while lowering downstate's, and it was unsure if the project would benefit the private or the public good. Considering the "benefits," the CCEMC feels that the biggest benefactors would be the tiny private cadry of NYRI investors. And the biggest losers would be the counties and areas hosting the power line route and paying higher utility bills because of it. ***********
Virus & Stress Suspects In Honey Bee
DeclineScientists say a virus appears to be a prime suspect — but is unlikely to be the only culprit — in the mass die-offs of honeybees recently. Called Israeli acute paralysis virus, first identified in 2004, it seems strongly associated with the beekeeping operations that experienced big losses and could have spread to colonies of wild honey bees. The first reports of bee die-offs in the United States came in 2004, the same year the country allowed the first imports of honeybees from another country — in this case, Australia — since 1922. Another possible influence is poor nutrition. Most of the colonies that had big losses were in areas that experienced drought a few months beforehand, and thus a lack of nectar in flowers. Also a factor could be the stress that comes from the increasingly industrial-style beekeeping operations in the United States, in which truckloads of hives crisscross the country to pollinate California almonds or Florida orchards each season. ***********
Free Junk Car Pick-up Our county is home to hundreds of junked vehicles, the vast majority on private residential land. With the prices of salvage metals soaring these days, it would make sense that the owners would want to turn these rust buckets into greenbacks, but too many don't want to "be bothered" pursuing salvage buyers. However, there is another avenue available -- free junk car pick-up. Click Here ***********
How Does Chenango Rate, Pollution-wise? With only slightly more than 50,000 residents, one would assume we wouldn't have many pollution problems. But an independent group, Green Media Toolshed , monitors pollution levels from various sources and then ranks counties accordingly. We think you'll be surprised at the ranking Chenango has, especially when it comes to the level of harmful Suspected Carcinogens (Chenango is ranked 5th worse out of 51 NY counties) to our air caused primarily by the backyard burning of trash. Get an in-depth pollution report for our county, covering air, water, chemicals, and more. Read the following article on the dangers of Dioxin, created from backyard trash burning. Click HERE
to see the Scorecard and where we rate on various pollutants
.
(Posted Aug. 22, 2007 ***********
Dioxin, a deadly long-lived compound created when trash is burned in an open pit, barrel, or outside wood boiler, may be the biggest threat to our dairy and crop farming. The dioxin-laden smoke settles on fields and crops, where it is later consumed, by people and also dairy cattle, and the dioxin is then transferred to the milk and related products made from milk as well as in the vegetables and fruits we eat. ***********
There are more than 5,000 civic
environmental groups working in New York City. A dozen different
citywide greening groups and 20 other organizations are working
together with researchers from the US Forest Service and Columbia
University to develop the Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project,
which asks questions about organization's mission, size, capacity,
geographic areas of interest and partner organizations.So How many does Chenango County have? And we certainly have a wealth of natural and manmade environments here. **********
In the United States there are more than 50,000 invasive species today, and the number continues to increase annually despite efforts by government to stop the introductions of alien species to our shores, primarily due to smuggling, species escapes from private and public holdings, and minimal border inspections. **********
Suburban sprawl and roadside clutter is what occurs when seamless webs of subdivisions, businesses, shopping centers and office or industrial parks are allowed to be developed because zoning and subdivision design standards are essentially a blueprint for development, and development alone. Conventional zoning has been accurately described as "planned sprawl," because every square foot of each development parcel is converted. Local officials who are interested in ensuring
that their communities will not ultimately become such an eyesore have
a practical and effective alternative -- compulsory open space zoning.
This technique has been successfully implemented by a number of
municipalities in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states, and by
several counties in Virginia, Washington State and California. The beauty of open space zoning is that it is easy to administer, does not penalize the rural landowner, does not take development potential away from the developer, and is extremely effective in permanently protecting a substantial proportion of every development tract. It does not require large public expenditures (to purchase development rights), and allows farmers and others to extract their rightful equity without seeing their entire land holding bulldozed for complete coverage by houselots or businesses. |